1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote controller with a hands-free function for a portable terminal, and more particularly to a remote controller for a portable terminal which can perform a hands-free function and control channel selection and volume levels of the portable terminal for watching TV and moving pictures.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a “portable communication device” refers to an electronic device that a user can carry to perform wireless communication with a desired source. The portable communication device refers to a Hand-Held Phone (HHP), a Cordless Telephone-2 (CT-2) cellular phone, a digital phone, a Personal Communication System (PCS) phone, and a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).
For example, radio terminals may be classified into various categories according to their appearance, such as a bar-type radio terminal, a flip-type radio terminal and a folder-type radio terminal. A bar-type radio terminal refers to a device having a single bar-shaped housing. A flip-type portable communication device refers to a device in which a flip or a cover is rotatably mounted to a bar-shaped housing by a hinge unit. A folder-type communication device refers to a manner in which a folder is rotatably connected to a single bar-shaped housing by a hinge unit. A slide-type radio terminal refers to a manner in which a slide housing is slid by a half of the length thereof, opposite to the body housing.
Although mobile phones were originally used only for voice communication, they are now being used to provide data communications. Moreover, mobile communication service providers have recently begun to provide digital multimedia content so that news, banking, electronic commercial trade, games, and moving pictures can be watched by using a radio Internet mobile phone.
Recently, in portable terminals in which radio signals (e.g., AM, FM, TV) can be received by terminal, TV can also be watched through a liquid crystal display (LCD) of the terminal, and various data such as MP3 music can be downloaded from the Internet in an audio file format (e.g., with an MP3 file extension) and can be stored in a memory device in the portable terminal to be reproduced when needed. Moving pictures can also be downloaded to be viewed through the LCD of the terminal.
However, according to the conventional portable terminals, if a terminal is called (i.e., receives a telephone call) when a user watches TV or moving pictures through the terminal, the user should press a TV watching and music listening canceling button, and then after pressing a talk button, the user can engage in the telephone call.
Further, according to the conventional portable terminals, after positioning a terminal on a cradle, a user can press a channel conversion button provided in the terminal if he wants to convert the channels when watching TV or moving pictures. In addition, if the user wants to control the volume, the user must press a volume controlling button located on the terminal, which can inconvenience the user.
Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned inconvenience, some conventional terminals include a hands-free unit so that they need not be held to the head of a user when talking and enable a user to communicate with a terminal wirelessly at a close range.
The hands-free unit includes a receiving ear phone, a transmitting microphone, and a key pad having a plurality of keys performing an automatic dialing function which can be disabled when talking.
However, although the hands-free unit can be used at a close range as a talking function, a separate remote controller function is not provided. Therefore, should a channel conversion and a volume control of the terminal need to be performed, the terminal must be manipulated by a user. Further, since the hands-free unit is a separate unit which requires a separate storage box when carried, the part cost increases and the possibility of loss is high.